On the day of the New Moon I started my period. While I have had irregular cycles in the past, as well as suffered from mood changes and cramping, I find that now that my menstrual cycle matches the lunar cycle I have less symptoms of discomfort. I also feel more tuned into my intuition and creativity when my cycles are synchronized with the moon - especially if I give myself the gift of slowing down, journaling and meditating.

Women can regulate their menstrual cycles naturally by using the light of the moon.

This practice involves sleeping in a totally dark room at night for the majority of the month and then when the moon is Full, letting the moonlight come into the bedroom. This resets the hormonal clock, aligning the menstrual cycle with the lunar cycle within a few months.

Women have found that night-lighting has helped to not only regulate their cycle naturally, but to also increase fertility and reduce symptoms from menstruation and menopause.

The time of menstruation is often called a women’s moontime because it is intrinsically connected to the lunar calendar. The feminine menstrual cycle is on average 29.5 days, which is equal to the length of the lunar cycle. Science has shown that the moon creates a tidal force upon the Earth, affecting the ocean’s tides. The moon and it’s varying light and magnetic qualities also affect each women’s menstrual cycle.

In pre-industrial times, when humans were not exposed to artificial lights at nighttime, the light of the moon affected women’s pituitary glands to regulate menstruation for many women at the dark time of the New Moon. The growing light of the Full Moon would induce ovulation at the time of the brightest evening sky. Now, women have varying cycles partially because we are up late at night, exposed to all sorts of artificial lights, televisions, screens, computers, and street lights.

Night-lighting is a technique that can be used to help harmonize irregular menstrual cycles, and is also known as lunaception.

To practice night-lighting, a woman needs to darken the windows of her bedroom with heavy curtains or blankets and sleep in total darkness with no artificial lighting in the room for the majority of her cycle. Some women have tried using sleep masks, but those can still let some light in to the eyes, and it’s best to totally darken the bedroom for the highest effectivity.

During the three days surrounding the Full Moon, open the curtains on the windows so that the light of the Full Moon can illuminate the room. If the moonlight is not available then an artificial light to mimic the moonlight can be used for these three days. The light triggers the pituitary gland to stimulate ovulation, and practicing this night lighting routine for several months will regulate the menstrual cycle, align it with the moon cycle, and assist in ease of fertility awareness and menstrual health.

This practice of night-lighting for inducing ovulation is also known by farmers. Chicken farmers have been known to leave the lights on all night in their hen houses to stimulate more egg production.

Christiane Northrup, M.D. reports in her book “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom” that in one study of more than 2000 women with irregular cycles, over half of them achieved regular 29 day cycles by sleeping with a night light on by their bed for the three days around ovulation. I believe that even more of the women would have achieved regular cycles if they had also aligned their night lighting practice with the lunar cycle and had been able to also use the natural moonlight which is even more powerful than an artificial light.

The effects of modern living due to environmental issues, stress, poor nutrition, hormone disruptors and artificial lighting cause many women struggle with irregular cycles.

When women go to their gynecologists, the only solution they seem to have for that is to go on birth-control pills to regulate their cycle. This just acts as a band-aid to the situation.

Birth control pills mask the deeper hormonal and lifestyle issues that are causing irregularity and hormonal imbalance to begin with, while suppressing a women's natural monthly ovulation.

Through sleeping in total dark most of the month and letting the light of the moon shine into your bedroom for the three days around the Full Moon, you may be able to balance your hormones, increase your fertility and ease menopausal symptoms. This ancient, simple and low-tech women's health practice is today helping many women to regulate their cycles naturally for greater fertility and health.